Search - Cecilia Bartoli :: Art of Cecilia Bartoli (Dig)

My New Favorite CD

K. S. Karshna | Minneapolis, MN United States | 10/02/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Cecilia is astoudingly beautiful in this CD. Her voice is so enchanting and perfect that it is easy to forget sometimes that the sound is coming from a human being. Even if you don't usually like opera singers, I recommend this CD as an introduction to music that will transport you and even perhaps make you swoon."

A great introduction to CB

10/13/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Cecilia Bartoli has been around since the 1980s, and her career has been nothing short of spectacular. This CD provides a great introduction to her world, but most Bartoli lovers will already have most of the tracks on this CD. This CD opens with 2 extracts from her recording of Rinaldo, with David Daniels in the title role. She gives a moving performance of Lascia ch'io pianga, and a delightful rendition of the duettino with David Daniels. The CD then moves on to excerpts from Cecilia's most popular album to date - The Vivaldi Album. This album consists of mainly world premiere recordings, and the 3 samples we get here show Cecilia's ability to move, amazing coloratura ability, and the skill to popularize rare pieces. Indeed, the next samples, from the Gluck CD, also contains world premiere recordings, and we get to hear 'Di questa cetra in seno' beautifully sung, and also 'Se mai senti', which is devastatingly heartbreaking. Of course, we get a large portion of Mozart, a composer central to her career, and Cherubino's 2 arias, are delightfully sung, as is 'Un moto di gioia'. 2 duets with Bryn Terfel are also featured, from their album Cecilia and Bryn. Rossini is another composer associated strongly with her, and she show off her vocal acrobatics and extraordinary range in 3 excerpts, from Le Cenerentola, Il Barbiere, and Il Turco in Italia. Lastly, there are 2 previously unreleased duets with Pavarotti, which are more commercial, but they are fun nonetheless.Overall, this is a great introduction to Cecilia and her singing, though if you are already a fanatic you will not find much new here."

Beautiful Cecilia Collection!

stardustraven | Europe | 11/11/2002

(4 out of 5 stars)

"'The art of Cecilia Bartoli' provides the listener with a beautiful compilation of several of her recordings. The composers whose works Ms. Bartoli performs here are: Haendel, Vivaldi, Gluck, Mozart, Rossini, Donizetti and Verdi. She's accompanied by various orchestras and conductors and the male soloists parts are taken by David Daniels (Haendel), Bryn Terfel (Mozart/Rossini), Roberto de Candia (Rossini) and Luciano Pavarotti (Donizetti/Verdi). Cecilia Bartoli's joy in music and dedication to the composers is evident throughout. She's the luminous center of this disc which is beautifully packaged with texts, translations and photographs. Her warm, low voice brings out every nuance and colour of the composers works. She's intense, passionate and achingly beautiful in the pieces by Haendel, Gluck and Vivaldi (which demand much from the singer and listener).



She gives us further a warm, tender and curious Cherubino in 'Voi che sapete' from Mozarts 'Le Nozze di Figaro'. The duets with Welsh bass-baritone Bryn Terfel were taken from Mozarts 'Don Giovanni' and 'Die Zauberfloete' are excellent, especially the 'Pa-pa-pa-pa' duet from 'Die Zauberfloete'. Cecilia Bartoli and Bryn Terfel are brilliantly matched as song partners and together they bring out every shade and nuance in these songs. It's a true delight to hear such gorgeous voices together on one disc.



Ms. Bartoli's Rossini is beautiful, warm and she brings out all of the pathos. But the last two pieces by Donizetti and Verdi were not my cup of tea, although Ms. Bartoli's contribution to those pieces is alert, intense and enthusiastic. Her partner here was Luciano Pavarotti and I am not an admirer of his voice. He's adequate and sounds if he's singing these pieces for the umpteenth time. Further I would have liked a bit more Haendel, Gluck or Mozart in this collection.



Despite some reservations towards Donizetti, Verdi and Luciano Pavarotti the listener gets a beautiful Cecilia collection, which I cannot but recommend very highly!"